BAD CAD - The Software

I have always wondered how software companies get any software out there at all since we all have differing setups, hardware, OS and software mixtures.  Getting anything certified is a long process. 

If you search the Autodesk site you will find items like the tested graphics cards with software releases like ADT 2006 and other products.  This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting your software to work with your hardware.

I have spent many hours trying to figure out just what is wrong with my file or system just to give up and search the newsgroups, discussion groups or AUGI forums and find that it is a bug in the software.

I have to give the first credit to Steve Johnson who is a contributing editor for Cadalyst, owner of cad nauseam, and a vice-president of CADLock, Inc. He authors the long running Bug Watch column that is one of the best places to find bug info about Autodesk products.

If you find a bug you can report it on the Autodesk site.

Updates and Service Packs are located on the Autodesk site.

Whatever way you find out about bugs, you will need to do some searching. 

Check out the Autodesk Support page and do a search for your trouble.  I searched in the AutoCAD product area for "Fatal Error" and got 115 returns.  

I searched the AUGI forums in the AutoCAD forum and found 77 results.  You can save yourself some headaches by reading up on the AUGI site.